Modern day broadcast technology consists of mobile equipment driven to field locations whereby events are broadcast live over HD and UHD video formats. As more and more consumers of video content look to mobile devices as a source of such broadcasts the market for providing such content is growing. Content producers and franchises owners of sports teams, news channels, and other programming packages are drawing more and more demand to broadcast in HD and UHD formats. This in turn is driving growth in demand for mobile equipment capable of being mobilized and deployed in a customized vehicle.
Over the last few years, optical cables have been used in such broadcast scenarios. The deployable style cables are connected to the mixing equipment in the vehicle and then deployed along behind a cameraman. The cables must be highly flexible and free of coiling memory so that they can pay off the reel in an uninhibited manner. The cables must be small and lightweight so as to maximize the amount of cable that can be placed on a small reel system that can be carried by a person. Additionally, the cables must be mechanically robust and abrasion resistant to withstand crushing forces, impact forces, and tensile loads during deployment and operation. They must also be weather resistant and water resistant to hold up under extreme conditions.
Traditional designs have utilized 900 micron buffered fibers helically stranded and strengthened with aramid yarns. An outer jacket of thermoplastic polyurethane is commonly pressure extruded over the core to provide a very tight cross section that minimizes or eliminates differential movement between the fibers and outer jacket. While these constructions are effective, minimum cable size is limited by the geometry of the core with the 900 micron buffered fibers.
Accordingly, improved deployable-style cables are desired in the art. In particular, tactical deployable cables which have reduced diameters and weights relative to known deployable-style cables while maintaining sufficiently robust characteristics for use in extreme conditions would be advantageous.